Support NeoGAF

[Steelyuhas]

There is really next to nothing that I'm excited for from the broadcast networks this fall :/

 

[RatskyWatsky]

There is really next to nothing that I'm excited for from the broadcast networks this fall :/

Same.

 

[TheSeks]

Any word on Graceland? That finale was so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if it is cancelled.

Yep. Graceland has been bad since the first season finale. Basically hand-waving a bunch of coincidences away. The team has gotten royally stupid as well. It's a shocking dip in quality after White Collar's 6 seasons.

Then again this is Jeff Eastin... so I guess White Collar's writing room struck gold. :/

 

[G0523]

There is really next to nothing that I'm excited for from the broadcast networks this fall :/

Could it be that we've hit a creative slump this season? Maybe something will come out and surprise everyone. But I'm also getting tired of my veteran shows that are starting to outstay their welcome.

Personally, I'm just looking forward to the new comedies that the four remaining Happy Endings cast will be in, if only out of some curiosity and familiarity, starting with Marry Me.

 

[Memles]

What's going on with Battle Creek. Seemed like there was heat but ever since Gilligan committed to Better Call Saul I haven't heard anything. Has anyone seen it, is word good, who put Josh Duhamel in a dramatic role, etc

Echoing the Fienberg link: it feels like it's a decade old attempt at a throwback, which ends up being very competent, well constructed, and just too generic. From what I've heard, it's at midseason not out of concerns over quality, but because it didn't offer an exact fit with any of CBS' available timeslots (where Madam Secretary logically paired with Good Wife, NCIS: New Orleans logically paired with NCIS, and Stalker logically paired with Criminal Minds). So it's very much a utility player should the logic behind one of those pairings falter.

 

[beat]

Could it be that we've hit a creative slump this season? Maybe something will come out and surprise everyone. But I'm also getting tired of my veteran shows that are starting to outstay their welcome.

If I complain over this coming season about the shoddy state of new comedies -- and I'm not expecting to, but maybe a bunch of promising looking ones will disappoint -- then remind me how often I've said that 2013-2014 season was amazing for new comedies. Albeit almost all of the good new ones were on cable, and most of them came on midseason or summer, but it all still counts. Anyways, if 2014-2015 ends up being kind of a slump, I won't mind too much since the season just past was so great.

 

[kuppy]

Read pretty much all through the last thread, maybe I'll be me more confident to actually post in this one, hah, subbed.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Did anyone from UK GAF watch the new E4 series Glue yesterday? I'm curious to know how it turned out.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I thought this was kind of interesting:

How Much Television Can the TV Biz — and Viewers — Handle?

With every new show, the dependence on time-shifted viewing for ratings points grows for all but the biggest hits. As more viewers embrace binge-viewing — waiting to watch multiple episodes in one sitting — measurement and monetization questions become even more muddied.

“It’s as if you had a retail store that used to be open in one location from 9 to 5, and now there’s one on every corner that is open 24 hours a day,” said CBS Corp. chief research officer David Poltrack. “With greater access to all programming, it’s no surprise that it’s the hit network shows that gain the most. With so much time-shifted viewing going to the (broadcast) networks, the question for cable becomes, at what point does the return on investment in developing and launching new programming become challenged?”

To some, the current moment in TV echoes the era of irrational exuberance on Wall Street. [...]

“It sometimes feels like the Internet bubble in the early 2000s. You had a jillion startups and lots of money pouring in,” said a veteran production exec. “The bubble burst because there was massive failure. Some version of that will occur here. Some of the smaller outlets taking big shots will not be able to keep investing at this level.”

Much more at the link.

 

[jamesinclair]

I thought this was kind of interesting:

How Much Television Can the TV Biz — and Viewers — Handle?



Much more at the link.

Well Netflix can't keep throwing billions at every new show like they've been doing.

People drop cable due to cost. Cable costs rise because they escalate how much they pay in acquisitions. Netflix looks to be going down the same path.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

So ehm, did anyone bother watching High Moon? (there's no thread, so I figured I'ld ask here)

I honestly can't tell if this was really supposed to be a thing. It's basically like the Asylum suddenly made a good Moonraker parody. Weird.

 

[Decado]

- TVguide: The Biz: Forecasting Fall's New Hits



What the whaaaaaaaat.

Sounds like some shitty research. They should have used number projected to the entire population.

'course they may have (didn't read the article), but the excerpt doesn't sound like they did.

 

[Decado]

I thought this was kind of interesting:

Yeah, one wonders how this is all going to pan out. Seems like every station is creating original content and there is now a crap-ton of top talent, often with budgets to match, being thrown at TV.

 

[Dan]

I thought this was kind of interesting:

How Much Television Can the TV Biz — and Viewers — Handle?



Much more at the link.

Yeah, I've felt this might be becoming a bubble, but I'd like to see more stats. For instance, the number of shows may be increasing, but that's not really the full picture. What if you look deeper into the number of hours these scripted shows are producing? The average episode count per scripted show has certainly been plummeting, so are we really flooding viewers with as much content as it may superficially appear? I'm sure it's increased, but maybe not as dramatically as some will claim. One disappearing broadcast drama might be replaced by 2-4 cable series. Certainly I don't think looking at raw numbers of shows is a particularly valuable metric to be drawing large conclusions from.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I thought this was kind of interesting:

How Much Television Can the TV Biz — and Viewers — Handle?

Much more at the link.

An especially handsome GAF member made a thread about this when Alan Sepinwall wrote about it around 18 months ago:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=539328

(51 replies wow such discussion much interest)

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Good thing ABC Family doesn't have much to break my heart with anymore, they are my fox, they spurned me with 9 Lives of Chloe King and Bunheads.

 

[ivysaur12]

I think we've already seen the limit on how many shows -- per channels -- cable channels can produce at a given time.

See: the TNT and USA slumps.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

I think we've already seen the limit on how many shows -- per channels -- cable channels can produce at a given time.

See: the TNT and USA slumps.

Yeah I can't believe Murder in the First was greenlit, then renewed. Plainest show I've ever seen.

 

[beat]

I think we've already seen the limit on how many shows -- per channels -- cable channels can produce at a given time.

See: the TNT and USA slumps.

Feels like Comedy Central has been stepping up its pace of development a lot in the last couple of years without having slumped yet. And FX too, though I still don't get why they'd move Totally Biased to FXX, make it daily, then cancel it.

USA, on the other hand, I think part of that was that they saturated their "blue skies" niche.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Feels like Comedy Central has been stepping up its pace of development a lot in the last couple of years without having slumped yet. And FX too, though I still don't get why they'd move Totally Biased to FXX, make it daily, then cancel it.

The FX / FXX brand division makes total sense.

FX is for dramas, FXX is for comedies, except most of the comedies which stay on FX and actually FXX is really just for The Simpsons.

 

[beat]

The FX / FXX brand division makes total sense.

FX is for dramas, FXX is for comedies, except most of the comedies which stay on FX and actually FXX is really just for The Simpsons.

See, this is the giant flaw in the "Landgraf is a genius" theory. Unless it wasn't his idea.

 

[systematic]

I don't think it was his idea. The brand division happened to coincide with FOX attempting to increase their subscription fees from cable and satellite providers by rebranding and bundling a few channels last summer: Distributors Hold The Line On Fox Sports 1 Sub Fee

Already frustrated by the high cost of sports rights, distributors forcefully resisted tearing up existing deals to pay more for FS1. In fact, just a week before its launch on Saturday, FS1 lacked significant distribution, which posed a major problem for the programmer.

Rather than having these carriage fights with multiple distributors at launch, Fox execs, led by Fox Networks Distribution President Mike Hopkins, decided to establish the channel on cable and satellite systems first. Then, as Speed’s affiliate deals expire, Fox will try to negotiate increases.

I guess the original plan for FXX was based on the assumption that they'd have better distribution being bundled with FOX Sports, which didn't work out.

 

[WarrenMax007]

Black-ish pilot is available for free on iTunes

 

[Norwegian Rudo]

I don't think it was his idea. The brand division happened to coincide with FOX attempting to increase their subscription fees from cable and satellite providers by rebranding and bundling a few channels last summer: Distributors Hold The Line On Fox Sports 1 Sub Fee

I guess the original plan for FXX was based on the assumption that they'd have better distribution being bundled with FOX Sports, which didn't work out.

The deal was Fox wanted to close/change a number of their unprofitable cable channels. The result was they ended up with more channels than they needed, and since getting on the cable packages is so difficult and expensive they were never going to give up and close down any of them. They decided FXX was a better idea than any others they had, and here we are.

 

[aparisi2274]

Selfie? 2-3eps before canceled?

Black(ish)? half a season before cancelation?

 

[saunderez]

So ehm, did anyone bother watching High Moon? (there's no thread, so I figured I'ld ask here)

I honestly can't tell if this was really supposed to be a thing. It's basically like the Asylum suddenly made a good Moonraker parody. Weird.

I did. It was cheesy and it was silly but it was pretty damn enjoyable. Totally get the Asylum feel from it too.

 

[firehawk12]

The worst part of Red Band Society? TV Critics saying how the pilot gave them "the feels". lol

 

[RatskyWatsky]

The season four premiere of New Girl earned a 1.6, down 44 percent from a 2.9 for the season three premiere but up 33 percent from a 1.2 for the season three finale.

The third season of The Mindy Project premiered to a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, down 32 percent from a 1.9 for the season two premiere and matching the season two finale.

.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Black-ish was a funny pilot. I can definitely see the potential here. There were some clunky jokes here and there but I chuckled at a few parts. Hopefully this does well because I definitely liked it.

 

[G0523]

The season four premiere of New Girl earned a 1.6, down 44 percent from a 2.9 for the season three premiere but up 33 percent from a 1.2 for the season three finale.

The third season of The Mindy Project premiered to a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating, down 32 percent from a 1.9 for the season two premiere and matching the season two finale.

Sadness. The shows' quality is catching up with them unfortunately. New Girl was just dull last season and The Mindy Project is still a mess with their coming/going of regular characters.

Or maybe Fox just premiered them a little too early?

 

[TheOddOne]

- Vox: Fall TV 2014: every single new show, previewed.

The Affair seems to be all the rage.

 

[Zoe]

The Mindy Project is still a mess with their coming/going of regular characters.

? Their cast was stable last season.

 

[TheOddOne]

- Yahoo: Critics' Picks 2014: The Worst New Shows.

 

[G0523]

? Their cast was stable last season.

Adam Pally joined the cast as another white male OBGYN.

And this season, that religious-ish receptionist left.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Guys, I need a subtitle for the Goldbergs S2 OT. Give me one please!

 

[maxcriden]

Guys, I need a subtitle for the Goldbergs S2 OT. Give me one please!

EVERYTHING'S
COMING
UP
BARRY!!

 

[TheAbsolution]

EVERYTHING'S
COMING
UP
BARRY!!

That's great. LOL

 

[TheOddOne]

Guys, I need a subtitle for the Goldbergs S2 OT. Give me one please!

I wish a promo picture could be subtitle:

 

[kulapik]

Nice to see that Mulaney gets better. Have some hopes for that.

 

[Purple Cheeto]

Honestly, this whole last season was pretty bad. After the first couple of episodes I started to hate remembering that I had to watch it, and I only felt that I "had" to watch it because of the (now false) hope of it getting better again.

Total throwaway season in my opinion, and it should be the death of the show. Whether it will be or not is still up in the air, I believe.

Yep. Graceland has been bad since the first season finale. Basically hand-waving a bunch of coincidences away. The team has gotten royally stupid as well. It's a shocking dip in quality after White Collar's 6 seasons.

Then again this is Jeff Eastin... so I guess White Collar's writing room struck gold. :/

Yeah

Its weird how I used to watch a ton of USA shows and now I'm basically down to the final season of White Collar and after that I'm probably done unless Suits rebounds. Graceland season 2 was awful and the two new shows (Rush and whatever the one about married rich people cheating on each other is called) just look like rehashes of better shows done by other networks previously.

I almost feel like they have to keep Graceland going because they don't have anything in the action/drama category if they don't. I miss the glory days of White Collar, Psych and Burn Notice.

 

[TheAbsolution]

Goldberg's Season 2 OT is up.

 

[DrEvil]

Guys, I need a subtitle for the Goldbergs S2 OT. Give me one please!

Not about the Wrestler.

 

[jim2point0]

My wife and I just started watching Under the Dome. The first season is... interesting. But kinda bad. I'm still intrigued....

I know there's also a 2nd season, but will there be a 3rd? I'm kinda wondering if this show gets better or (somehow) worse.

Maybe I should read the book....

 

[Clevinger]

My wife and I just started watching Under the Dome. The first season is... interesting. But kinda bad. I'm still intrigued....

I know there's also a 2nd season, but will there be a 3rd? I'm kinda wondering if this show gets better or (somehow) worse.

Maybe I should read the book....

It gets worse. Somehow. By a lot.

You know that South Park episode where manatees write television shows by grabbing random "idea balls" in a tank? That's Under the Dome season 2.

 

[Sober]

Guys, stop whatever you're doing RIGHT NOW and go watch High Moon.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

- Yahoo: Critics' Picks 2014: The Worst New Shows.

The consensus seems to be that Stalker and The Mysteries of Laura are the two worst shows of the fall.

 

[TheAbsolution]

The consensus seems to be that Stalker and The Mysteries of Laura are the two worst shows of the fall.

Yep. They looked godawful from their promos too so I'm not surprised.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Guys, stop whatever you're doing RIGHT NOW and go watch High Moon.

So it was good? Are you sad that Syfy didn't pick it up to series?

 

[Sober]

So it was good? Are you sad that Syfy didn't pick it up to series?

So good. Super sad. Somewhat angry.

Watch it anyway!

 

[Dan]

This is as good a place as any.

THR - FX "Probably" Won't Continue 10/90 Show Strategy, CEO Says

Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills, he also said the company will likely stop acquiring shows under so-called 10/90 deals, such as Anger Management with Charlie Sheen, George Lopez's Saint George and Partners with Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence. The model works like this. If the first 10 episodes of a show hit certain audience targets, it gets a guaranteed renewal for 90 episodes.

"The business of renting programming is nonsense," he said in explaining how the company has been looking at content before going into the 10/90 model. "Charlie's show has been solid, but the other two not particularly solid. And nothing has been really a juggernaut. To tell you the truth, I look at this as probably an experiment we won't continue in the long run." Instead, the company will focus on its premium brand, he said.